Cult Leader Receives 120-Year Prison Sentence

Keith Raniere, the leader of an American sex cult, has been sentenced to 120 years in prison for his conviction on sex trafficking, child pornography, racketeering and other crimes.

Sixty-year-old Raniere served as the founder and leader of NXIVM, a New York-based group which operated under the guise of a multi-level marketing company that offered self-improvement seminars.

In reality, he recruited women into NXIVM for the sole purpose of grooming them into becoming his sex slaves.

Additionally, these women – some of whom were recruited in their teens, per court testimonies from June 2019 – were also branded with his initials and forcefully placed on starvation diets.

Appearing at Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in New York City on Tuesday, 27 October, Raniere – who maintained his innocence throughout his trial – was handed his lengthy sentence by Judge Nicholas Garaufis. He was also fined $1.75 million.

Seth DuCharme, the Acting US Attorney whose office prosecuted the case, commented on Raniere’s sentence: “It is our sincere hope that today’s sentence does deliver some measure of justice to those victims.”

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